MsBusDriver Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 If anyones interested...Just talked to Mom. She marched from 1938 to '40 in her "Joplin High School" all girl Drum and Bugle Corps in Missouri. She started out on tenor drum and not being very good at that switched to trumpet and herald horn. Apparently, high schools back then had their own D&B Corps. They competed against each other with field shows and went across state lines to do so (Kansas, Ark). She said that they did win a few shows too. They of course did parades. She said that she also marched with the all boy ROTC unit. First she would march with her Drum Corps and at the end of the parade, Grandma with her car would haul her and 3 other girls (all herald horn players) back to the start of the parade to march in front of the ROTC unit. They had to change uniforms in the car on the way back to the parade start. Boy, some things just never change. She enlisted with the "Waves" during WWII and played trumpet with the Waves Drum and Bugle Corps in Cedar Falls IW from '42-'43. It was just a parade unit. Just kind of cool to think of all she did "way back when"...No wonder I love this stuff so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 "Women In Drum Corps": While co-ed junior & senior drum corps are quite common in this day and age, it always wasn't so. Many of the leading junior corps of the late 1950s and early 1960s were either all male (Chicago Cavaliers, Bellville Black Knights, Holy Name/Garfield Cadets, Blessed Sacrament, Madison Scouts and Toronto Optimists to name a few), while those that did have females as members (St Kevins, Cambridge Caballeros, Chicago Royal Airs, St Raphaels Buccaneers, St Vincents Cadets, and Bracken Cavaliers, again to name but a few) confined them to the color guard. A couple notable exceptions to the "Girls in the Color Guard only" rule were the Casper Troopers, Argonne Rebels, St Mathias Cadets, St Annes Loyalires and Connecticut Royal Lancers. All of those corps had female marching members in all sections of the corps. (My apologies to any co-ed "all sections" units I may have overlooked). As noted by "OldBaritone" (and best of luck with the 'Reunion Corps') the Audubon Bon Bons "All Girls" corps was very competitive in the late 1950s and early 1960s, defeating at one time or another all of the all male & co-ed junior corps of that era. Their drum quartet won the 1957 National Championship as did an individual snare drummer, Rita Macey. The first senior corps to have ANY females marching 'may' have been the Long Island Sunrisers. Due to a 'walkout' of their all male colorguard members just prior to the 1969 seaason, the wives and girlfriends (some with junior corps experience)of the remaining corps members were 'drafted' into service. Elphaba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc oldtimer Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 All male corps are still all male corps. Most, however, have joined the 21st century and gender doesn't matter. If you can play, you can play. I absolutely agree that women can play the horn. I have personally heard some fabulous female horn players in my day. Bonnie Ott from BD comes right to mind as one of the best mellophone players to play a horn for drum corp. But, as an alumni of one of those corps still stuck in the 19th century, I feel the need to post this from the Cavalier website. You obviously have the right to your opinion but I respectfully take mild exception to your comment: Over 50 years ago, the Cavaliers were founded as a youth activity for boys. The primary intent in those days was to try to give potential juvenile delinquents something to keep them busy and off the streets. While drum and bugle corps has changed dramatically, the Cavaliers have kept the all-male marching member tradition throughout their history and it continues to this day. Even though the marching corps is male only, the Cavaliers have many incredible women whose support has made the corps successful. These Moms, sisters, friends, girlfriends, daughters, wives, and others have been absolutely vital to The Cavaliers. Further, to paraphrase Mr. Paul Scherbak: It's not that The Cavaliers think men can do it better, or that women couldn't hack it, it's that they want to rejoice in the brotherhood that can only be felt by working, sweating, and bleeding with other men. It's a special type of bond. There are a lot of excellent Corps out there that accept women; The Cavaliers do not. Is The Cavaliers being all-male what makes them great? No, it's part of what makes them The Cavaliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffernbus3 Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 (edited) Actually, I have no problem with Cavaliers or any other corps being all-male, any more than I would have with an all-female drum corps, in fact, I miss the latter quite a bit. And I obviously have no problem with a corps that has both male and female instrumentalists in the line. Thanks for the quotes from The Cavaliers. RON HOUSLEY Edited April 4, 2004 by ffernbus3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Spirit has had women in the horn line since day one and they've always been a force to be reckoned with. You couldn't have played with some of those lines if you didn't have the chops. The tradition continues to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimisback Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Spirit has had women in the horn line since day one and they've always been a force to be reckoned with. You couldn't have played with some of those lines if you didn't have the chops. The tradition continues to this day. AMEN JIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kick ### Spirit!!!!!!!!! :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scv guy Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Spirit has had women in the horn line since day one and they've always been a force to be reckoned with. You couldn't have played with some of those lines if you didn't have the chops. The tradition continues to this day. Shows that ya'll got it goin' on! Way to go Spirit. Love you guys. We had a brilliant trumpet player in my H.S. band (Cupertino High School, Cupertino, CA) and there were a number of us in SCV at the time. She so much wanted to march with us in Vanguard, but alas, they did not allow women in the horn line. The SCV's loss as she would've easily made 1st Sop. <**> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scv guy Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Spirit has had women in the horn line since day one and they've always been a force to be reckoned with. You couldn't have played with some of those lines if you didn't have the chops. The tradition continues to this day. AMEN JIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kick ### Spirit!!!!!!!!! :P '79 Spirit Contra? Much PROPS bro! You guys blew white heat back in the day. Thanks for comin' out west back then. You had both BD and us shakin' our heads in admiration. Ya'll know that right? B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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